The Saga of the
SUBMARINE
Page 3
A steam boiler was converted into a submarine for the Confederate States of America by H. L. Hunley during the war between the States. The David propelled at four knots an hour by a hand-driven screw, but sank repeatedly in trials at New Orleans, Mobile, and Charleston. Since David had no periscope, direction was determined by surfacing and peering out the conning hatch. Consequently, a small wave would swamp the boat. Hunley himself was drowned with eight other crewmembers in Charleston Harbor. His submarine was raised and renamed Hunley. Armed with a 90-pound charge of powder on a long pole, Hunley attacked and sank a new Union ship, the Housatonic, in Charleston Harbor, in 1864.
This is a replica of the Hunley in downtown Mobile, Alabama.
The concussion wave swamped Hunley and it sank with Housatonic, but it had proven that the submarine could be a valuable weapon in time of war.
From 1864 to 1872 the U. S. Navy tinkered with a hand-cranked submarine named the Intelligent Whale. Intelligent or not, the Whale failed during its first trials. Inventors realized that until a method of propulsion better than manpower could be developed for underwater use, submarines were not going to be worth the effort.
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© Ric Hedman 1998
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